April declared National Child Abuse Prevention Month in Bell County

At Bell County Commissioners Court on Monday, Judge John Burrows read a proclamation and proclaimed April as “National Child Abuse Prevention Month in Bell County”. This proclamation is in support of Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of Bell and Coryell Counties, Child Protective Services, Child Advocacy Centers and the parents, teachers and others working in our community.

“We want to ensure that children in our communities have the opportunity to grow up in safe, loving permanent homes,” said Burrows. “Prevention is the best defense. Every child in care deserves a CASA volunteer.

“We are excited the Bell County Commissioners Court introduced the proclamation for the abused children of Bell County,” commented Marce Bowders, Executive Director, CASA. “We are as excited as the people themselves. This will help us recruit more volunteers.”

Texas has more than 65,000 cases of child abuse a year.

The motion was also carried to approve Candace Cartright and Veronica Molina to their appointments to the Bell County Child Welfare Board.

The county engineer reminded the court of the “2016 Tire Recycle Event” this coming week, hosted the City of Temple Recycling Department and Bell County Commissioners Court. Tires can be brought in for recycling for a fee on April 7 and 8 from 8 a.m.
until 5 p.m. and April 9 from 8 a.m. until noon at 3210 East Avenue H in Temple.

Also approved at Monday’s session was the resolution to submit a grant request on behalf of Bell County Sheriff’s to the Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division. This grant will be used for the Body Worn Camera Project. The only concerns mentioned was the length of time for storage of film footage and how that would be handled.

The motion was also carried for the approval of the award that would give to the lowest responsible bidder of Transportation of Human Remains for Central Texas Mortuary Management, LLC.

Approvals were also considered for the establishment of a 40 mile per hour speed zone on part of Dubose Road and for the interlocal agreement with the City of Belton for seal coating of three streets in Precinct 1. The 2016 Annual Work Plan and Seal Coat Program was also considered and approved.